8th Grade Newsletter
Important Dates
December 5: Winter Concert and Art Show
December 20: Last student day before winter break
December 23 - January 1: Winter Break
What is going on in class?
ELA with Mrs. Remington:
This month, we have continued with vocabulary practice and quick writes to help expand their writing skills. The students are showing great growth, and the class percentage of those meeting the standard keeps improving. Our goal is for 80% of the class to meet the standard so we can have a celebration, and they are getting close! We recently completed our characterization unit, where students analyzed a character's development throughout a book. They learned to find strong quotes that illustrate the character's growth and explain the causes behind it. Next, we will begin our theme unit, starting with short films and short stories to build their skills before diving into a new book. The book, The Wave, is based on a true story. After finishing it, we hope to arrange a Zoom meeting with the author, as we did last year, which the students loved. Overall, they continue to work hard, and I’m noticing more effort and determination from them.
Literature with Mrs. Maurais:
This month, we launched our argumentative and persuasive writing unit. To kick things off, students revisited the fundamentals of citing credible sources. They then applied these skills by creating mock newspaper stories, focusing on paraphrasing and accurately quoting citations. Next, we began working on argumentative essays. Throughout the rest of November and into December, students will develop each of the five paragraphs, gather research to support their claims, and work through drafting, revising, and finalizing their essays. Following this, we’ll transition into an exciting class debate and a persuasive commercial project to further enhance their persuasive skills.
Math with Mr. Redstone:
Students completed Unit 2 on dilations and similarity. We have moved on to Unit 3. To start Unit 3, students have been learning about proportional relationships and the different ways to represent them. Those ways being an equation, a table and a graph. They have also been learning about how slope and rate of change represent the same thing. We will be moving on to linear relationships.
Science with Mrs. Cloutier:
Hello! We had a great month of projects and building in here! Your students have done a great job at building the orrerys. We are finishing up our unit before Thanksgiving break and beginning forces in motion when we get back. That unit has a couple of projects too, an egg drop and a mousetrap car that kids love to build and race with the rest of the grade.
Social Studies with Mr. Oliver:
In Social Studies we have been studying the reasons why the Colonists chose to separate from Britain. We have been paying special attention to the way people were not represented in their Government, and the ways they went about protesting the new acts and laws. We are not about to go forward to the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, and the creation of the Constitution. I am hopeful that after the first Unit, we are able to go forward a bit more focused and productive considering our every other day schedule. Current Events will continue to be a topic of conversation and learning in class. As always, please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions about what your Students will be studying.
Student Recognition
November Student of the Month
Olivia Young
November Black Bear Award: Perseverance
Eisley Cohen
Ryder Staples
Emma Shaw
Zoie Chadburn
Christian Merrill
How to contact us.
Science Teacher: Crystal Cloutier crystal.cloutier@rsu4.org
Math Teacher: Ben Redstone ben.redstone@rsu4.org
ELA Teacher: Tracy Remington tracy.remington@rsu4.org
Literature Teacher: Kayla Maurais kayla.maurais@rsu4.org
Social Studies Teacher: Andrew Oliver andrew.oliver@rsu4.org
Special Education Teacher: Megan Anderson megan.anderson@rsu4.org